The Boy Called Trouble
by Two Leaf Clover
Summary: A young kunoichi, Kinomi, had seen this boy every now and then, but more than she had seen him, she had heard of his feats. Well, it was really more infamy than fame, right? Still, she couldn't help but find herself made curious by him. At first, it was a simple wish to know the answers to her questions, but she can feel this curiosity boring deeper. Just who is this Naruto boy?
1. Chapter 1: That Troublemaker

The sun was low, beginning to sink further down behind the towers of Konoha as the light it provided dulled into late evening. Training was brutal, and her sensei seemed firm in keeping the difficulty pretty leveled where it was, if not making it a little worse as they continued to grow complacent with it.

"This is torture..." She murmured to herself, rubbing her hand down over her bicep that ached to the touch. "If we keep training like this, we won't have to worry about 'being prepared' for anything - sensei'll kill us before an enemy ever gets to us..." If that weren't bad enough, after a few more paces, she felt a tight pull inside her stomach, followed by the defeated rumbling of hunger. "Mmm..." She whined quietly to herself through pursed lips.

"Are you talking to yourself again?"

"GHH!" The young kunoichi snapped out of her hunger and fatigue-induced daze, stumbling ungracefully away with hands raised, "A-Ayumu!" She quickly addressed the golden haired girl, though after the initial fear, her gaze turned to skepticism, "Were you following me?"

Ayumu seemed amused by the question, a pleased smile on her face as she waved off the concern. "No no -...well, kind of!"

Suspicion encroaching, the caramel haired girl narrowed her eyes, "There's no sort of..."

"Mhm!" Ayumu quickly retorted, much like a stubborn child. She rocked back on her heels playfully, a teasing smile spreading across her face, "We were heading back to your place for a meal!"

The girl stopped immediately. That seemed fair. Nothing out of the ordinary there...except. "Eh... W-well hold on, Ayumu..." She began again, now more genuinely curious than outright investigative, "Did you say..." Her honey colored eye slowly shifted to look behind them, as Ayumu also seemed to be doing the same. A weak, nearly inconclusive little "...we..?" barely escaped her lips as she noticed the close-by and approaching forms of her dark haired teammate, Tama, and likewise sensei -the latter seeming a bit displeased.

"My apologies, Miss Kinomi, " The sensei spoke up, his eyebrow quirking with a bounce of annoyance, "has my training been too _difficult_ for you?"

His diplomatic, yet sharp tone caused a violent shiver to course through her body, "Ahh! Food! That's what you're coming for, yes? It's on the house!" She smiled awkwardly, brows knitting tightly together as she attempted to lighten the mood with a stream of unsettled laughter.

"Free food!" Ayumu cheered, both fists quickly risen to the sky, overjoyed.

It didn't take long to arrive, and seated in the empty establishment, Kinomi began passing dishes expertly to the tabletop. This small restaurant was family-owned, a relatively popular place despite its size and current inability to expand due to limited space to build out. On her days off, she often helped work the place to keep the traffic flowing and ease some of the stress on her parents. The place was easy on the tab for shinobi, so it wasn't unusual to see the place bustling with genin, jounin and everything in between. At the moment, however, so late into the evening, the place was empty, having closed up for the day.

Kinomi, her parents having whipped up a little something for the squad, began serving her friends and sensei alike.

"This isn't too much, is it?" Tama spoke up, simply having a cup of tea whilst watching Ayumu recklessly dig in. "I'm sure we could have eaten elsewhere if it's an inconvenience to you."

"Oh not at all," Kinomi's mother spoke, fondly waving off the concerns, "I'm sure training was quite difficult, so it's really nothing for us to just make you a little to eat." The woman was warm, sharing her regards to the team in the form of a welcoming aura and reassuring smile.

Kinomi's cheeks lit pink ever-so-slightly, her honey colored eyes growing soft at the sound of her mother's clear fondness.

"Difficult training you say?" Her sensei spoke up just then, causing Kinomi's eyes to sink into a state of tension whilst a bead of sweat dripped down her cheek at the sudden need for clarification. She opened her mouth quickly to speak up, but unfortunately, her mother beat her to it.

"Oh.. Well, I don't know for certain, but Kinomi tells me it's always quite taxing..."

"Mom!" She interjected, looking pleadingly, then shifting a wary stare to her sensei at her side.

"Hah?" Her mother, was understandably confused, but it did nothing to procure mercy from the silver haired male, who responded collectedly with a mere, "Oh, really, now?"

"Oh w-"

"MOM!" Kinomi spoke up again, causing the woman to look quickly between the man and her daughter respectively a few times before assuming she understood the point of the stress.

"Oh, I see." She pressed the knuckle of her bent index finger against her lips, hiding her smile and muffling her quiet chuckles, "I'll leave you to your team." She must have been embarrassing her, speaking on how difficult training was for her and all. She waved her hand, gripping one of the emptied drink trays to her chest as she turned to leave them.

Unfortunately, the damage had been done, the caramel-brown haired girl slid into her seat, attempting to avoid eye contact with her sensei, but she could feel those _soulless _gray eyes peering uncomfortably into her!

"Your mom's nice," Ayumu spoke up, rice dotting messily around her mouth, "A really good cook too, mmm~!"

'_As long as the conversation moves away from that training comment...' _Kinomi internalized, taking a bite of the generous portions of meat encircling her plate, "Yeah. I think so too. Actually! I'll tell her you said that!"

"I think we should talk about the rigorous training session we had today," Tama abruptly spoke up, looking out the window as she did so, almost as if she were trying to hide that her expression that was certainly displaying her will to catch Kinomi up in some trouble.

"You!" Kinomi immediately spoke up, an angry tick mark popping up on her cheek.

"It has nothing to do with you. It's just important that we figure out what else we still need to cover."

"I'm not buying that excuse!" Kinomi huffed, pointing dramatically with heavy accusation at the window her teammate was facing, "I can see you laughing in your reflection, you liar!"

Clearly amused with the already wildly stress-induced mood of the scenario, the male casually waved the girl down, "Relax, you're being noisy." He was already satisfied with how much she had lost it trying to avoid getting in trouble, and he hardly had to say more than three sentences. It may have been a little mean, surely, but he wasn't above toying with his pupils a little.

"Mm..." Kinomi side-glanced the male as he spoke, then peered back to Tama, who now seemed to have moved on from her little 'laughing-to-self' state. Feeling satisfied with this, she sat back down, returning to her food.

"Haiki-sensei," Ayumu spoke up through a heavy muffle.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," He casually, yet somewhat disdainfully advised, raising a sliver of fish to his mouth.

"Mm!" Ayumu briskly wiped her mouth, gulping down the food she had been eating before trying again, "Haiki-sensei!" An exasperated fold became prominent beneath his eye as he nodded his head then, once, "Yes..?"

She pulled her leg up in the seat, folding it beneath her to sit on as she eagerly leaned forward, "Rumor has it you've been checking into missions for us, right?" Her fists bunched up eagerly under her chin, warm brown eyes seeming to sparkle while she practically bounced in place from sheer anticipation, "What is it, what is it, what is-"

"Easy, easy..." He urged, raising his hand to comb through the long strands of his straight, silver locks, "You've been taking missions for a full year already, but you still act as excited as a fresh genin."

"It doesn't matter!" Ayumu quickly chimed, "It wouldn't matter if I were a chunin, or a jonin! Each mission brings something totally new to explore, y'know?" Her shoulders raised, lips coiling up into a cat-like smile, "So what is it, what is it? D-rank again? Oh! Or a C-rank this time? Oooor... maybe you believe in us enough to take us on a B-rank this time!"

Haiki's brow raised subtly, a somewhat amused scoff escaping his lips, "Not a chance!"

The back and forth faded into obscurity as Kinomi began to explore her own thoughts. She bypassed the full table with her eyesight, looking to the large window to the side of their table, on the other side of Tama -who seemed to be half listening to Ayumu and Haiki's playing 20 questions, and looked briefly to her own reflection.

It was finally nightfall, the lights of some homes now clearly glowing, but also the ramen shop that was about an open street away. It was so small, sometimes she wondered how they stayed in business, but every now and then the place would be practically full, so maybe it was more frequency than occupancy...

She had never tried it herself, in fact, she had been pestered to by Ayumu who was constantly singing its praises. It did seem like a cozy little stand...

As her thoughts began to wander, and her gaze became a stare, she noticed something curious in the distance. A boy walking, hands tucked behind his head, and bright orange jumpsuit seeming to catch literally every ray of light on the roadway.

Her head shifted back slightly in surprise, brow furrowing, '_Hold on, I recognize that kid.' _

She had seen him around a lot actually, and to be frank, she'd heard him around a lot too. People that came in and out of their little family restaurant would speak on him a lot, and usually the opinions seemed pretty mixed; either people seemed to think he was some sort of hopeless troublemaker, or... well no, usually it was that one. Regardless of what he was, she was certain she had never heard so many talk about some kid in her life, unless maybe one were to count all the things she had heard about some Sasuke guy.

It had never occurred to her to ask about him, but seeing as this was the first time she had ever really seen him, and he certainly didn't _seem_ like some kind of walking disaster, she found herself a tad more curious.

"Kino-kinooo~..." Ayumu waved her hand in front of the dazed Kinomi's face, succeeding in effectively snapping the kunoichi from her short daydream, "Were you listening to any of that? You know Haiki-sensei hates repeating himself..."

"Huh?" She looked to the waving girl, then to the sensei in question, his look appearing patient, but hiding a somewhat bland disposition.

Ayumu folded her arms, "How could you not know? I just got finished completely forcing him to admit he had plans." Haiki quickly spoke up to interrut Ayumu's moment of bragging, "Letting it be known that I intended to tell you all anyhow."

"Tell us what?" Kinomi inquired once more, passing glances between everyone at the table, "Did we come to some sort of consensus on something..?"

"Yah," Ayumu turned her head, completely ignoring their sensei speaking up against her accomplishments, "Haiki-sensei says we're going to have a mission in a few days. Thaaaat's part of the reason he's been training us so hard the past few days."

"What's the other part?" Kiyomi hiked a brow somewhat suspiciously, passing a honey-eyed glance to the jonin across from her.

"He's not saying," Tama casually remarked, licking the last bit of sauce from her thumb, "Probably best that we don't know." Haiki always had some sort of scheme going on, and half of the fear always came from knowing it was coming.

"You're completely right," Kinomi added, shifting a gaze to Ayumu at her side, who she knew would cause an uproar.

"What are you saying!? You're not even the least bit curious!?"

"No." The two spoke up simultaneously, causing the golden haired girl to poke her lip out in displeasure. Now this was just no fun.

Seeing as she had basically been caught up, Kinomi stretched her tired arms up, yawning a she did so. Her stomach was full, and she was finally resting her body - that seemed like plenty a reason to feel as content as she did in that moment, and it seemed her team felt the same. Their plates were cleared, cups were empty, and it appeared like they enjoyed the meal so much that they were relaxing in their spots at the table. As she leaned back, she passed another glance out the window, catching sight of the boy stopping by the very ramen stand she had been looking at prior.

Figures the two things she was curious about went hand-in-hand.

"Mm..." She hummed in a combination of bliss from a pleasant meal, and curiosity floating around in her mind. '_He was wearing a headband - I imagine he's a new genin then?' _This made her that much more interested. If that were true, they were comrades as well, then, right? _'No harm in checking around on a fellow ninja...' _She rationalized.

'_Maybe I'll ask about this Naruto boy...'_

**_A/N: Hello! I'm trying to do a thing where I'll be writing a lot about character ships for Naruto (it was kind of like a challenge), so this is one of the canon x oc ships I'll be doing! This is kind of long, because the story will encompass a lot of the show, but I'm not sure if I'll go all the way into Shippuden yet. Most of the OCs that show up in this story are going to be a part of their own focused stories, so I just decided to put them all in the same universe roughly, since they can fit and coexist with each other! _**

**_Not all of them will be this long, and some will actually be really short. I'll probably be uploading some of those as I work on these, and you don't need to read one to understand the other. They're all stand alone, just with more of a focus on the character at hand. _**

**Thank you for reading! **

**~ Two Leaf Clover**


	2. Chapter 2: That Outcast

"Kinomiiii," The soft beckoning infiltrated her hazy dreams, clearly allied with the sun that was gently pouring in through the window at the side of her bed. She shied away from the sound momentarily, ducking half of her face beneath the cover of the blanket.

Her mother stood behind her door, peeping in. It was time to get the restaurant going, but... _'This is her first day off in a little while...'_ She pondered. Kinomi and her team had been training each and every day, well into the evening. Pairing that with the fact that the girl seemed to have an unrivaled amount of trouble dragging herself up the stairs the night before, and she figured maybe she should leave her to rest. Oftentimes, Kinomi would become a little frazzled if allowed to skip out on the restaurant hours, but a break was a break.

Gently, her mother eased her door shut, attempting to do so without a creak or thud that could disturb her.

Nestled into her neutral cover set, one of Kinomi's eyes opened, line of sight sliding to take in the door. _'She really is letting me sleep!'_ Her cheek ballooned out into a pocket. _'She didn't try very hard to wake me, either!'_ She couldn't stand how much her mother urged her away from the duties of the restaurant.

Surely she had responsibilities as a ninja, but the place got so busy that the variable mealtime rushes would sometimes be overwhelming for them. Still, they always tried to make her rest. Too selfless!

Sliding down her blankets, she rose in a delayed sway, up into a sitting position.

"Ehk..." Still sore.

Regardless of how much it ached the night before, though, it almost seemed to feel a lot better today. Probably because her mind was already happy with having a free day. She would still be working, but handling the waitress work, to her, seemed like definite break from weighted tree climbing, mountain hikes, ninjutsu pract- "No more..." Her body began to throb in agony just thinking about it. Besides! On the brighter side of things - restaurant duty meant she would have a whole candy assortment of civilians and shinobi alike to converse with.

She threw on a casual outfit - just a red-violet, long, short-sleeve shirt that could fall seamlessly over a pair of flexible black shorts. She held her light, warm brown hair into its usual medium ponytail, wrapping it a few times and pushing in a pin to keep it in place.

"Maybe someone that comes in will know about that Naruto boy," She pondered quietly to herself.

Downstairs, Kinomi's mother readied the counter, setting up the little decorations she so enjoyed, and making sure she was ready to open for business.

As the bell to the place rang, she glanced up, curiosity on her face, considering it was just a few moments before the place was due to open. A smile lit her face, almost instantly being followed by a perplexed tipping of her head, "Ayumu. Tama. I thought Kinomi would have a day off today?"

"We do," Tama assured, though when she opened her mouth to speak further, her deep yellow eyes shifted over to the golden haired girl at her side.

"We just wanted to come thank you personally for yesterday!" Ayumu quickly added, the two of them both offering a full bow of respect and gratitude, "I told Kinomi what a good cook you are, buuut... She was so out of it yesterday that I didn't know if she'd really tell you!"

"That's not all," Tama side-glanced Ayumu, a certain dull look coming to her face, "We wanted to thank you for serving us after closing time, and for free at that."

"Oh, right..." Trailed the now-thoughtful Ayumu.

"Ooooh~," Kinomi's mother placed her hands endearingly against her cheeks, a bashful blush lighting her face from being flattered this way. "Really, there's no need! It was no trouble. You two are like family here, I was just doing what any mother would do!"

Ayumu looked to Tama, eyes sparkling with just how starstruck she seemed to be by the woman's kindness. Tama simply rolled her eyes, shaking her head in amusement. She gripped Ayumu by the fluffy beige scarf around her neck, looking back to the woman. "Thank you again." She added for good measure before tugging Ayumu.

"Hold ooon! We can stay for breakfast or something! You're stretching my scarf! I can't breathe!" Any excuse she could find to get Tama to let go, she used, but it seemed to do nothing for her case.

Another young girl, whom had been standing at the door way, quickly stepped back and away from the flailing mess that was Ayumu.

Tama held the door open for her, brow quirked in exasperation at her teammate's whining, "Sorry about that..." She trailed, shaking Ayumu in her grip, "You're embarrassing yourself..." She grumbled, watching as the girl bypassed them.

"It's just Chako! We know her!" Ayumu retorted, pouting.

"Doesn't matter..."

Their bickering, or more one-sided arguments could be heard until the two left the establishment, clearing the way for a young brown haired. It was long, about a little past her waist, and in a more pale shade of umber. In her arms, was a rather wide box that her outstretched arms needed to really reach to appropriately carry.

"Chako!" Kinomi's mother addressed, quickly coming from behind the counter to assist with the box.

"Good morning, ma'am!" She chipperly greeted, "This is the latest batch of tea leaves. We had quite a lot this time - so there's a lot of good stuff in here."

"Oh, thank you! And send my thanks to your parents too, won't you?" She accepted the box, turning as she took notice of her husband exiting the back and hurried over to give it to him.

"Yes, of course!" The well-mannered young girl smiled in assurance, though taking a moment to scan around the bare interior of the restaurant, she couldn't help but have a question eager to be asked of the couple. "Is Kinomi around? I heard she would be having a day off today..." She was used to seeing her working on her days off, and what a spectacle it was to have one lately, so much so that it apparently circulated like news.

Kinomi's mother pointed up to the ceiling, "Training has been difficult lately. I think she's going to rest f-"

Just as the woman went to explain, the sound of scrambled thumping could be heard from the far left of the place. The three in the room glanced over, seeing a completely uncoordinated Kinomi standing at the near-top of the stairs.

_'This is seeming a lot more challenging than I thought it'd be...'_ Completely ignoring the three pairs of stairs watching her, the kunoichi watched the stairs in front of her. That seemed like a long walk all of a sudden... maybe she was more tired than she gave credit for..._ 'One foot in front of the other...'_ Stepping down, her eyes dart wide as she abruptly missed the edge of the step effectively slipping to the next as her foot began a downward slide over the top of the stairs, only leveraged by her back foot keeping her planted, "Shoot!"

"KINOMI!" The three called out, all three only reaching relief upon seeing the girl finally touch down on the floor.

Beads of sweat littered her rosy cheeks, her wobbling mouth giving away that the stair surfing certainly had no been planned. "No worries!" She assured anyhow. _'In front of Chako too?'_ Chako was a good friend of hers, her family having done business for a while, considering her family worked with produce, specifically tea leaves, which was a hot commodity at the restaurant. While she was a civilian, and Kinomi had decided to be a shinobi, it did nothing to impede on their friendship. _'Still... I'm a shinobi, and a year older too. I'm supposed to look cool in front of her.'_ Quickly brushing her hand across her cheek to hide her flustered disposition, she spoke, "Morning, Chako!"

Her father gave her a wary side eye, seeming to silently scold her for brushing off her somewhat reckless behavior. Regardless, he approached the front, turning the sign to officially open the place.

After some time to converse with her good friend, and... regrettably to ensure her parents that she didn't hurt herself, the restaurant began to fill in quickly, people of all kinds entering to take a seat in the place. This was the best part of the day!

Bustling from table to table, talking to everyone that came in - every experience was exciting. It almost made her understand the same eagerness Ayumu shared for missions... And there was also the fact that on top of that normal joy, she had a little of an objective to work with today. How many of these people could tell her something new about Naruto?

"That kid?" One girl piped up, clearly displeased with the topic, "I wouldn't even waste my time asking about him."

"He's always stirring up some kind of trouble!" One male scoffed in response to the question, "I'm surprised you haven't heard of him already."

"The guy's a total idiot! It took him like three times to pass his exam," Remarked a younger girl.

"I'd rather not talk about the fo-," One woman spoke, quickly becoming scolded by what appeared to be a friend of hers, "Don't say that, you're not allowed..."

Kinomi gripped a notepad to her chest, brows knitting curiously together. She had received a few different responses from different people - and not one of them could provide something even the slightest bit deeper than what she already knew? Well, that last one was interesting, though she couldn't imagine what would be disallowed to talk about.

She bit her lip, gently nibbling it in strategic thought, as she picked her next table to revisit carefully. She assessed the room, scanning over each person until locating one that seemed a bit interesting.

They were clearly genin, they were each adorned with headbands, and he didn't recognize them from her graduating class. They must have been a few of those new rookies people had been speaking of: bright bunch, from what she had been told. Plus, if that meant what she thought it did, they came out of this Naruto boy's graduating class.

She walked over to their table, glancing around at the lot of them. The girl seemed to mid-conversation, ranting about something it seemed, and so into it that her platinum blonde hair went swinging every now and then. Unfortunately for her, it seemed like the two with her were hardly interested in having to listen. The dark haired boy was staring out of the window like his will to live was slowly being zapped from his person, and the other was too deeply absorbed in stowing his face that he had no opinions to share on the matter she spoke of.

_'He's got an appetite like Ayumu...'_ She thought to herself. It did her proud to see someone devour their food so heartily.

"Are you finding everything okay?" Kinomi inquired carefully, hands locked gently affront her person.

The two pony-tailed shinobi looked up at her question, then as if it weren't up to them, they glanced in the other boy's direction, who was still consuming his meal with gusto, "It's great!" He loudly proclaimed.

"Shhh! Choji!" The girl swiftly hushed, "We're in a public place! Show some decency!"

"It's not big deal," The black haired male spoke up in a disinterested drawl, "No one's paying attention anyway."

"That's not the point!"

As they went back and forth, Kinomi could feel a bead of sweat drip from her cheek in exasperation. _'These are the new rookies? The 'bright kids'? They look like they hardly have the cohesion to pass their squad exam, let alone an actual mission...' _

She refrained from actually shaking her head as she tried to clear the thoughts from her head. That wasn't nice. She set about reaching to the table tops, collecting their dishes, "I'm glad you're enjoying yourselves." Good save, good save. "Hey," She spoke up, glancing up whilst her hand held a tray stacked with the many plates the table had gone through, "You guys are from the recently graduating class, aren't you?"

They looked up, the blonde of them seeming somewhat proud. She raised her head confidently, then lowered her chin into her hand, "Yes, we are!" Finally, this ninja thing was starting to get them to recognition they deserved. Still, their team was so fresh they hadn't even taken a mission yet. It left her curious as to how this girl... "...But... How did you know that?"

"We've been hearing about you all a lot." Kinomi responded, smiling as not to give her the wrong impression, "They say we've got a lot of interesting people this year."

"Isn't that the truth," The boy blandly retorted, though his version seemed much more sarcastic and dry.

"I was actually curious about someone in particular." Passing the tray to the reaching hands of her mother, Kinomi shifted back to look at the group. It was clear their faces were ranging from curiosity, suspicion, and a more pure sense of wonder. "Do you know anything about a Naruto boy?"

The blonde's disposition faded into that of pure annoyance, "Him!? Why would you be asking about him!"

A large bead of sweat comically dripped down the back of Kinomi's head at the outburst, _'So even his classmates are saying things like that about him..?' _

"What happened to 'decency', eh, Ino?" The male blandly addressed.

"Oh, stow it, Shikamaru!" The girl, apparently named Ino, shot back, "Look!" She glanced up, seriously prepared to answer this question, "He is the single most loud, _obnoxious_, downright frustrating person I've ever met!"

"He's annoying, sure, damn loud, yeah, and I'll give you obnoxious and frustrating too," Shikamaru added.

_'So basically, he's everything she just said...?'_ Kinomi thought awkwardly.

"But he's not some monster," The male continued, and just when it seemed that this unlikely source would be a ray of light, he quickly dashed it himself with his conclusion, "He's just stupid."

"I honestly don't know how he even passed," Ino dryly tacked on.

"He's not particularly skilled in anything, but he must have done something right if he passed... Not that it's any of my business..." Shikamaru was a curious one - he seemed to be standing up for him, somehow, but despite that, his tone came off as if he simultaneously couldn't care less.

And the other one, Choji, he was still taking this opportunity to properly finish his meal while they wasted time talking.

Kinomi was appropriately stunned. These guys were some sort of enigma - to be fair they had some weirdos in their class as well, but this was just madness... "Ah..."

"Oh," Shikamaru began again, looking over to Kinomi as if he could sense some sort of hidden motive amidst the question, "Why do you want to know, anyway?"

Immediately, she regretted drawing the attention back to herself, a twinge of stiffness jut into her shoulders, leaving her standing awkwardly straight, "J-just curious is all!" She smiled, though somewhat uncomfortable in demeanor, and waved them off, "No kind of specifics."

"Well I hope we answered your question," A still somewhat irritated Ino sighed. At least she wasn't angry at Kinomi - more so for just the conversation in general.

Seeing as their meal was finished, and their table now cleaned, the trio got up to leave the place, the Choji boy still satisfied and patting his stomach with both hands whilst he followed behind them. Honestly, the young kunoichi was stunned - not only was this team a complete enigma, but that boy was single-handedly a glowing example for how she wished all customers would handle their meals! Not a drop or crumb left on any dish - completely spotless!

"Amazing..."

Given a bit more time as closing hours neared, Kinomi stretched her arms up, waiting until the soreness stretched so roughly that it began to peter out. She rubbed the back of her neck, humming to herself thoughtfully. That one genin team provided her with the most information - and even that was somewhat lacking. Well, it was plenty extensive considering their perspectives and personal standpoints, but at the same time, it did little to justify the overwhelming disdain for him. Maybe that's all it was... They were just annoyed with him, and it took off to a higher extent..?

_'Then what aren't they allowed to talk about..?' _

The bell ringing in the front of the door took Kinomi from her thoughts once more, though those coming in left her with a wide smile, "Oh! You stopped by!"

"If we can make it before closing, it's the best place to grab a bite," A double bunned girl chimed, taking a deep breath to catch scent of the air, "And this place smells great! I'm getting hungry just standing here~!" Tenten, Lee, and Neji - part of the graduating class Kinomi had been a part of the year before. They often trained about as hard as Haiki trained her group, meaning it was rare for them to make it to the establishment before they closed up for the day.

"I would never pass up the opportunity to support the establishment of my colleague!"

"That'll do, Lee," Tenten casually remarked, smirking out of amusement as she placed her hand on his head, gently rocking him from side to side in a calming, yet playful motion, "Do you have a table for us?"

"Of course!"

The three sat down, whilst Kinomi began to fill their cups carefully with tea, "Has training been that hard?"

Neji simply helped himself to the tea, eyes closed as if taking this opportunity to relax, rather than socialize for the moment.

Tenten, on the other hand, frowned a strained frown, "When is it not? Gai-sensei never knows when to call it quits."

"I can relate," Kinomi huffed, taking a seat at Lee's side, across from Tenten, "I was sure it was just me. Haiki-sensei has been really putting us through the wringer - but it feels like it's been starting to get more intense recently."

"Maybe they feel pressured," Tenten offered, "With word of all these strange genin coming into play, maybe they're trying to stay ahead of the curve."

"Gai-sensei would never feel threatened by anyone!" Lee assured, clenched fist accompanying burning eyes to make his point, "He is an expert! He teaches us with such intensity because he is sure we are prepared to handle it!"

Kinomi, though with beads of sweat dotting her cheek, watched on. The way he had such deep faith in his sensei was almost sweet. He had practically become a miniature version of him, so why was she surprised?

"Oh! That reminds me," She spoke up, turning to face the group as they ate and just overall relaxed, "You mentioned strange genin - and I've been really curious about one lately." Their eyes turned to her, even Neji's who, albeit, more so offered a mild wonder than the strong curiosity of the others.

"You, curious about someone?" Tenten's head tipped to the side, "I'm sure we'll answer if we can?"

"His name is Naruto-"

"Oh no," Immediately, Tenten dropped her head into her palm, fingers coursing down her temples and meeting at the bridge of her nose, where they pinched at the inner corners of her eyes, "You've gone and gotten him started."

"THAT NAME!" Lee pointed out.

"You know him?" Kinomi inquired, hoping this would be a new break of information-

"I DO NOT!"

Her shoulders slumped, and her eyes glazed, "Ooh..."

"But what I do know is that is one of the names I have heard." He slammed his turned fist into the palm of his other hand, "Gai-sensei's rival, by the name of Kakashi. This Naruto genin is one of the names that has been floating around from his assumed squad."

"Oh right..." Kinomi trailed to herself. She had forgotten about that little rivalry. Gai and Kakashi had been at each other for years, apparently, though from most stories the score-keeping seemed to only interest one side of the 'feud', if one could call it that. It would make sense that these guys would be looking at Naruto as more of a challenge than what his other rumors sparked.

"I, myself," Lee began, "am more interested in the name Sasuke Uchiha. He has quite the history behind him. I must test my mettle against them!"

Kinomi's head tipped in disappointment. That Sasuke name again - what was everyone's deal..?

As fire began to burn around the green clad shinobi, Tenten watched him with a bland look, sipping her tea, "This has been going on ever since word started to circulated about the graduating team's squad divisions. People have been passing around word like trading cards."

"Surely it's mainly Lee's excitement..." Kinomi offered, though this theory was debunked as Neji lowered the tea slightly from his lips.

"I find myself growing curious about the rumors as well."

"NO WAY!" She exclaimed - the sheer surprise of Neji being interested in anything outside of his personal interests blew her mind, "That can't be right!"

"Surprise, surprise~," Tenten dryly taunted along, "It's been a nightmare - everyone's so high energy lately."

The caramel haired kunoichi could only imagine. It felt like the village of Konoha was being turned on its head recently. What was next..?

**A/N: Hello! Thanks for checking in for chapter 2! Just a reminder that this story will be taking a bit more of a shallow approach to some story details to focus on individual characters and ships! I may go into the details of some things I'm covering future chapters separately (like a different story, specifically to flesh out those details) if you want me to, so let me know! **

**I hope you enjoy~! **

**~Two Leaf Clover**


	3. Chapter 3: That Challenger

It was just meant to be a simple mission - acting as bodyguard to a young nobleman for the week while a meeting of allies commenced within their small village. A walk into a scenic plains and wide field plots - it was actually relatively beautiful to see something so open and free compared to the condensed and built up environment of Konoha.

Unfortunately, the plans underlying didn't fall in their favor - a sudden ambush of the unlikely allies unto their nobleman client.

"Easy, Ayumu..." Kinomi urged, having the smaller girl's arm wrapped carefully around her shoulder as they re-entered Konoha, "We're almost home. We can get you to the hospital then, okay..?" She tried to urge her into comfort, but the golden haired girl was biting back her whimpers through a literal bitten lip.

"I just made a really dumb mistake," Ayumu tried to lighten the severity, despite her pain, "Sorry you guys had to save me..."

Tama looked away, attempting to find words to make the situation better, but there wasn't exactly anything to say to clear the situation up. Their job should have been to stick by their client, and attempt to evacuate him as quickly and safely as possible while Haiki held off the ambush. That was the order. Ayumu became reckless during the retreat and engaged. It was reckless indeed, but... Tama took her yellow eyed gaze back to the girl she assisted in walking, "It's no problem. Our job as a team is to help you."

Haiki had been much more quiet for the journey back, his arms folded in the typical 'I have a lot on my mind' fashion while he decided to hang further in the back.

"We completed the mission successfully," Kinomi added, "You can always heal up, but our client was safe."

Ayumu glanced over for her position in the middle, looking at the both of the girls assisting her at either side. She turned her head back forward, lowering it to allow her bangs to cover her eyes. Her lips twisted up into a strong pout, the clear streak of a tear appearing once before just as quickly rolling down her cheek and disappearing from her chin, "Y-yeah...! Thanks, guys..."

It was made to feel like a breath of fresh air as the group passed beneath the gate, seeing the spread of Konoha they had missed so much out before them. It felt good to be home after not seeing their loved ones for upwards of a week and a bit more. Something seemed different, though...

"There are so many people..." Kinomi trailed to herself, though enough to catch Ayumu's attention.

"Haiki-sensei..." Tama began, reeling her head back around to look at him. Her brow quirked, gaze hiding a twinge of intrigue, "What's going on?"

The male inhaled, closing his eyes in apparent exasperation, "I'll..." He stowed his hands into his pockets, closing his eyes. He took a long pause before turning his head away. Clearly, something really was on his mind, "I'll tell you later. For now, I'll be informing your parents of your return, and submitting our mission report - keep heading to the hospital."

The girls looked with suspicion, though before they even had the opportunity to ask, the male disappeared from his spot with a abrupt covering of smoke.

"He was in such a rush..." Kinomi trailed aloud, watching that spot skeptically. As Ayumu let out another pained gasp, however, their attention was quickly returned. They had no time to wonder about it now, they had to continue to the hospital.

"Easy does it," Tama urged carefully, getting her up to the reception desk where the nurses could take over from there.

The two, Tama and Kinomi, lingered behind as Ayumu was escorted, watching her being taken to an assumed medical room. The entirety of the experience was something they were aware could happen. Surely, if they were the young genin they were just a year ago, it probably would have affected them much more seriously in terms of their emotional stability. By this point, they just understood that this was something came with the job.

"I'm sure you have an idea of what Haiki-sensei wanted to tell us." Tama turned to take a look at Kinomi, who, without looking back at her, replied, "Yeah..."

The influx of people in the village was no coincidence. They were almost all foreigners, she could tell from the variety of headband insignia she recognized as they were entering. She folded her arms, huffing out a puff of pent up air, "The chunin exams, huh? That must have been why he was pushing us so hard..."

Tama looked away pursing her lips in contemplation, "We weren't recommended last year, so he probably decided to keep it a secret. Probably a surprise."

It made sense.

Kinomi paused, bringing her finger to her mouth and pressing her knuckle against the bottom of her lip. He was going to surprise them by training them up really hard for them to have a fresh debut in the chunin exams. '_And here I was complaining about it...' _

"I'm... actually a little relieved."

Kinomi quickly glanced up, brow furrowing in surprise, "Wha? Relieved?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. It seemed like Tama trained the hardest without ever uttering a word of complaint, "Are you serious?"

"If everyone's in town now, the chunin exams are most-likely due to start very soon." Tama folded her arms, a more serious expression taking the place of her normally calm one, "With Ayumu's injury, there's no way we'll have the opportunity to participate. It's a rigorous exam, and from what I understand it takes days to sometimes more than a week to complete it. Not just that, but the threat of real danger is constant. Haiki-sensei won't let us participate with a pre-existing injury. There's no way."

That, Kinomi understood, but at the same time, she couldn't help but lack a vital piece to connect both sentiments, "And you're relieved by that..? I don't understand..."

"We left on a week-and-a-half mission outside of Konoha." Tama's eyes softened, gaze evading Kinomi's a she looked off towards the seemingly endless hallway of the hospital. "It's hard me to leave my family for that long. It's taxing on my grandmother..." It was rare for her to speak out on this matter. She usually preferred to keep her personal life to herself, and hardly ever fell back on an excuse.

'_Who would have thought she had this hanging in the back of her mind...' _The honey-eyed girl looked the opposite way, '_Well..!' _She clenched her fists tightly to her person, seeming to rile herself up. '_If that's the case, I have to find the positives in this too!' _"Right!"

Tama turned back to the sudden outburst, brow raising inquisitively, _'She's awfully peppy all of a sudden.' _

"Then I'll just have to do my best with that aside!" Kinomi placed her hands on her hips, offering a bright, wide smile, "If our ninja are going to be in the chunin exams, they're going to need some hefty support from the crowd, and a hot meal to keep their strength up, right?" She chuckled to herself before it seemed to evolve into a full on hearty laughter.

A light bead of sweat appeared on the dark haired teammate's cheek at the sudden outburst, but her face seemed to display gratitude, "I guess you'll be really busy then. I'll help as much as I can."

As the conversation gradually came to a close, the door opened, a young boy scampering over as quickly as his feet could carry him, "Tamaaaa!" In response, the dark haired kunoichi scooped up the young boy, thumping his nose lightly with her finger, "Hey, little guy."

"Aww..." Kinomi cooed to herself, earning a dull stare from her teammate. Before she had a chance to realize what was happening, she was pulled into her arms with a grip that would make a constrictor jealous, "Kinomi, I missed you!" The hug from her mother immediately turned to a squeezing and shaking, being nuzzled at her cheek as the dramatic woman dropped buckets of exaggerated tears from her eyes. "I..m-missed you...too!" She squeezed out, and finally went let go, she assumed that would be the end of it. Unfortunately, she was immediately pulled into a 360 view, by her father, "Are you hurt at all?"

"Just a few scrapes a bruises," She assured, setting her parents at ease, "Nothing serious, I swear!" As the hugging and tugging came to a slight calm, she passed a look across the way, sharing a warm smile to Tama, who was holding her younger brother and being coddled just the same by her grandmother. Cheekily smiling to their secret plan, she offered her a thumbs up, to which Tama, amused, shook her head.

This moment was brought to a halt, as a blonde woman came through, her hand cupping her mouth: Ayumu's mother.

"She'll be able to recover fine," Haiki told her, leading her by a hand on the shoulder, "I apologize. I was overseeing them, and I should have handled the situation more carefully." He was taking responsibility. Honestly, it was just him being dutiful. Taking responsibility as a leader was a job of each shinobi that took the role, even a chunin leading other chunin.

Still, the woman shook her head, "Thank you for saying so. I know it's her responsibility now, but I just..." She was doing her best to keep it at bay, but her shaking shoulders gave way to her state, "She's all I have..."

Kinomi's expression grew soft and solemn. "One sec," She spoke to her parents, easing to go forward. She would want to see Ayumu - to let her know that everything was going to be okay. As she moved to do so, Haiki broke away, allowing Ayumu's mother to go on as he blocked Kinomi's path. "Not yet... Give her some time to be alone with her." He placed his hands behind his back, passing a look to Tama, then back down to Kinomi, "And after, I need to speak with her."

"About the chunin exams, right?" She questioned, "That we won't be able to participate."

"Astute." He merely remarked, "It seems you've recognized and come to terms with this rather quickly."

Kinomi nodded firmly, looking up as if she felt keen on challenging his perception with her own solution, "We don't mind, and we don't blame her. We want to tell her that."

"That's fine," Haiki half-turned, peering back, "You can tell her that, but later. I think it's important than she have the time to think this over." Kinomi couldn't really say that she understood exactly what he meant by this. After all, it was common knowledge that she would feel awful about feeling responsible for it... So then...

Kinomi turned, looking to her parents with a sheepish smile, despite her wandering thoughts, "I guess I'll have a lot of time to work at the restaurant around now, eh?"

"Kinomi," Tama spoke up, turning her head to peer over to the girl's spot. The dark haired girl had set down her young brother, now turning to look in her teammate's direction. She first turned to respectfully bow to Kinomi's parents, "Please excuse me if I'm intervening... but I was wondering if you would like to have lunch with me."

"Oh, no," Kinomi's mother spoke up quickly, brushing off the concern, "I can see her when she gets home. You two have a good time, alright?"

"Thank you."

As the two exited the building following their families, Kinomi was gifted one more painfully slow, loud kiss on the cheek from her mother.

"Mom!" She scolded, rubbing her cheek whilst a deep swell of color rose. It was embarrassing on a regular basis, but now with so many strangers flooding the streets and getting an eyeful of that as their first impression, it was downright mortifying.

"Sorry sorry!" Her mother added sheepishly, dramatically once more wiping her eye with her knuckle, "I just missed you so much!"

Kinomi's lips formed into a deep pout, brows knitting as she did, "Mom..."

"I know, I know!" She turned away quickly, as if saving herself the suffering, and promptly latched onto the arm of her husband as the two began home. Kinomi's father peered back, a tired look in his eye, to which Kinomi quickly clasped her hands together like a prayer, mouthing the words 'sorry!'. Now he would have to hear it all the way home.

After that episode, Kinomi quickly turned to Tama, planting her hands against her hips in a resting position, "So!" She quickly shifted, "Lunch! Did you have anything in mind?"

"Something like that..." Tama mused, taking a quick look around as she began to walk, "I more so thought now would be an ideal time and position."

At this point, Kinomi felt completely out of the loop. Her head tipped slowly to the side as she looked to gather her bearings in the conversation, "Um... Excuse me? What exactly do you mean by that, Tama..?" It sounded almost as if there was some sort of secret plan in the works.

"You said you wanted to figure out more about this Naruto boy, right?"

"Ah!" She bounded up to her toes, following quickly to catch up, "I mean, I did, but I wouldn't think we would have to do anything about it - especially now? Ayumu..."

"We can't talk to her right now anyway. If we try, Haiki-sensei will just stop us again," She buried her gloved hands into the pockets of her bagging black pants, brow quirking in response, "It would be more fruitless to do nothing productive right now than wait around." Her eyes scanned the streets carefully, "Besides... If this is the gap in time preceding the chunin exams, everyone is probably spending their time preparing, rather than training. It would be the perfect time to find people lingering around the village."

"You put a lot of thought into this," Kinomi uttered hesitantly, taken completely aback, "All for me?"

"Don't worry," Tama casually guaranteed, "It didn't really take me long to think about. It's mainly common sense."

"Ghh..." Kinomi grumbled under her breath, folding her arms, "Gee, how kind of you to-"

"There." Tama interrupted, looking up and further down the road. Upon closer inspection, one could see the boy striding casually with a haughty disposition. His hands were still posted up behind his head, but this time, there seemed to be a little squad of kids trailing him around.

"Aw, how cute," Kinomi cooed quietly to herself, "He's gets along with kids..."

"You know what they say about people that do so well with kids," Tama offered, "That they're really just overgrown children themselves."

"Hum..." Kinomi pondered this point. '_With all of the mention of troublemaking I heard, that doesn't sound to far off, really_._'_ "You may just have a point there..."

As the two grew closer -and it didn't take much closer-, his voice began to loudly carry, "You just watch, Konohamaru! The chunin exams are going to be a piece of cake! I'll come out on top no sweat! Believe it!" He was quite the confident one, wasn't he?

"Oh, I believe it, boss!" The kid piped up, effectively stroking the blond ninja's ego, "You'll wipe the floor with 'em!"

"He's taking the exam?" Kinomi pondered aloud, "But he's just a rookie... That's gotta be unusual in the records, and he's so confident on top of that... I don't think I remember that kind of thing ever happening, do you?" Kinomi turned her head to her right, being greeted with the blinking outline of empty space once occupied by her teammate.

"Tama? Tama!? Ahh!" She fret hyper-actively, quickly looking all around to try to locate her missing teammate, but to no avail, "She honestly just ditched me?" '_How on Earth did I carry a conversation like that all by myself!?' _

Coming to terms with the fact that her teammate had effectively left her standing there like a fool, she looked back forward, seeing that the boy and the little child followers had gotten much closer.

It must have looked strange that she was just standing there looking frazzled in the middle of the street.

"Hey, boss... I think that girl's staring at you..."

"Huh... You think so?"

Kinomi stiffened as she noticed the way he glanced up, anxiety rushing over her uncomfortably stilted form. '_Come on, come on. Thinking on your feet is your specialty!' _She quickly approached the boy, a smile on her face as she tucked her hands behind her back.

At the sudden speed of her approach, the lot of them jolted back with comical speed, watching her carefully.

"Hello." She raised her hand, effectively alleviating a touch of their wariness, "I happened to overhear that you were entering the chunin exams!"

Silence lingered, causing Kinomi to begin feeling a wave of self-consciousness, but luckily it seemed to subside as the boy finally responded, "Ah... Yeah. What about it?" The blunt answer deflated her a little, but he, thankfully continued on, giving her a chance to recover, "Are you gonna be in it?"

"Mm..." She looked away, but quickly recovered from the strike of disappointment, "Unfortunately not! But that is besides the point." She raised a matter-of-factly finger, seeming quite proud of herself as she went on, "Since I will not be participating, I'll be supporting our fellow ninja at my family's restaurant. I'm sure you've heard of us - we're known for giving out discounts to our shinobi customers."

"Never heard of ya," He casually thought, not even taking a moment to think deeper.

Her shoulders slumped once more, a twinge of dread down her cheek, "Eh... N-never...?"

"Hey, boss," Konohamaru urged with a nudging elbow, "I've heard of that place before - lots of people go there to eat. I heard sometimes they give out free stuff too."

"Huh, really?"

"Mm!" Mustering up a little more bravado, Kinomi attempted to share their glory once more, "Right! You're as intelligent as you are cute!" This filled Konohamaru with a little pride, causing him to puff his chest out as a twinge of pink came to his face from the compliment. "And for the chunin exams - we do something special! Not only do shinobi get a discounted meal, but also a free dessert!"

"Free dessert?" The young girl also accompanying the trio of kiddies spoke up in awe.

"We would love if you would stop by sometime and get some real strength together for the exams! And bring your friends too!" She added, "We'll be running this special promo all the way until the end of the exams!"

"Awesome!" Naruto called in outburst, "Hey thanks for that! I'll _definitely _stop by!"

"Of course, any time!" A somewhat confident little grin came to her lips. '_Not only a nice save, but a little business too! What a treat~!' _"It's about a diagonal walk from the Ramen bar, across the open road, two shops down from the bookstore! We look forward to seeing you!"

Now energized, the blond was oozing giddiness, sharing it with the children he walked with. Only after a moment, could she over hear his mumbling, "Wait hold on, where's the bookstore..."

"I'll show you where it is, boss..."

_'I don't know what they were talking about,' _Kinomi mused to herself, humming quietly to herself as she watched them continue on, _'He's a little blunt. Maybe kind of rough around the edges, but... He's not that bad, at least I don't think so...' _

"Hey, boss, did you see how much she was staring? I think she may have had a thing for you!"

"You really think so?"

"Definitely!"

"Well I guess I _am_ kind of hard to resist, huh?"

A deep, stress-worn fold creased beneath her eye, look growing bland and disinterested. _'Definitely rough around the edges...' _

"So, how did it go?"

"TAMA!" Kinomi pointed accusingly, "You completely left me! What did you-"

"I went to get lunch," The dark haired girl casually retorted, "That was the point, right?" She waggled the other boxes in her hand, giving them over to the caramel haired girl, "I grabbed an extra one for Ayumu while I was at it."

"That still doesn't excuse you disappearing like that..."

Tama seemed to let a somewhat playful smirk uncharacteristically cross her lips, "You're a big girl, you can take care of yourself."

"Tamaaaa!"

**A/N: I really enjoyed writing these chapters! Fun fact: I've written Fanfiction, specifically shipping fiction before, but never for Naruto himself, so this has been an interesting challenge!**

**I really hope you guys are enjoying!**

**Also! There are now a feeeew details about this challenge on my super blank profile, as well as a poll up I'd like some opinions on! It'll only be up for a little while, and quickly replaced with a different one, so keep your eyes open! **

**Thank you!**

**~ Two Leaf Clover**


	4. Chapter 4: That Kid

The morning was upon them, the chunin exams. There was no doubt that it was drawing out all sorts of people. Watching from one of the large windows of the restaurant, Kinomi sat up on her knees in one of the booths, observing all of the hopeful genin making their way towards the academy for registration.

'_So those are ninja from the Rain village, huh?' _She thought, seeing some of them clad in cloaks and hats. She tipped her head, watching them curiously. Not exactly what she expected, but it kind of reminded her of someone she knew - a more traditional approach to the shinobi title with more dark, stealthy colors and accessories that covered majority of their body.

Her head shifted then, seeing a few mist ninja walk by. '_They look pretty cool too...' _Seeing a few pass by, biceps bare, she settled a dreamy chin in her hand, '_I wouldn't mind them stopping by for lunch...' _

A distraction caught her attention, a familiar look of green weaving through the crowds. Kinomi perked up, easing back from her chair and gripping a medium sized cloth tied at the top. Carefully easing the door gently and slowly enough to avoid other ninja that were passing by it.

She raised her hand, cupping it slightly as she whispered out, "Pssssst!" Her eyes narrowed as she squinted into the crowd, trying again, "Pssssst! Lee! Neji! Tenten!"

Hopefully one of them would hear their name and pop up.

Her eyes traveled up as she waited, then whispered a few more times, catching sight of the way some of the passerbys looked down at her. For the most part, it was with amusement, a normal curious look, or like she was just some kind of child, but some of them... some of them stared with a certain look of blood-thirsty intrigue, as if she were some kind of food.

Though she didn't appear visibly shaken, her eyes had been captured by interest, causing her to stare far longer than intended.

"Mm..."

She murmured quietly to herself, as if near-silently attempting to snatch back her will to divert her she finally did, it came from a blink, her honey colored hues quickly darting at the first chance of freedom to look back to the front.

"Kino-"

"AAH!" Her body lurched back, away from the pair of large, perpetually wide eyes staring at her, fingers hooked around the door frame. "Lee!" She scolded, pouting purely out of embarrassment from the little jolt she was given, "Don't scare me like that!"

"You called!" He reasoned, seemingly just as distressed from the scolding at hand.

"We don't have time for this," Neji spoke up from slightly further away, causing Kinomi to come back to the task at hand. That didn't, however, stop her from sassing him a little from the safety of her own mind, '_Coming from the one that is apparently oh-so curious and excited, I imagine not!' _

Quickly shaking the thoughts from her mind, she thrust out the tied cloth towards the group, "Something to keep your strength up! Consider it my way of wishing you guys luck today!"

"And this isn't a ploy for free advertising?" Tenten felt the need to ask, though designated herself to be the one to carry them for the team. After all, Lee would have a pace too quick, and Neji, a pace a bit too slow, so she was the happy medium for keeping them safe.

"Of course not!" Kinomi huffed. A light brush of pink tipped over her cheeks as she looked away, "It's just... since my team won't be able to participate, I'd like a way to cheer you guys on."

Tenten peeked into the cloth through a small opening, catching a whiff of the contents, and smiling before pushing it closed, "I see! Well in that case, you have our thanks."

"We'll make you proud!" Lee assured, offering a receptive thumbs up.

Kinomi smiled in reply, waving off his energetic assurance, "I know you will!" They were hard workers, after all.

The interaction lasted not much longer, the two having found that Neji had been growing impatient. They scurried ahead behind him, meshing once again into the groups of shinobi that were in passing. Kinomi smiled, only slightly, taking the edge of the restaurant door and easing it shut.

"Whew..." She breathed softly, hand on her hip. Throughout the course of the morning, she had given out every bundle to Konoha squads she recognized to be participating. She scanned the interior of the restaurant, then, looking into the corner, where the promotional materials for the exams were stacked, she grinned to herself. The restaurant would be packed within a few days, hence why for now, as majority of the participating ninja would be cooped up in the place of the exams, the place would be closed to prepare...

...and there was still so much preparing to do.

It was still early. With the restaurant closed, her parents probably wouldn't wake for a while, but considering she still had so much energy from training being on pause for a while...

She gently placed her hands together, a stance-like position fluid in her body that displayed her preparation.

_'No sweat... I'll have this done in just a few minutes...' _

Stacking, placing, weaving, stringing, taping, tying, pushing, pulling...

It took a little more than a few minutes...

...in fact, it had been a few hours now, and she wasn't even completely finished yet. On the bright side, the restaurant was looking a lot more festive and decorative. On the not-so-bright side, a familiar soreness in her muscles was nagging her, probably from getting on the move so quickly after such a strenuous mission.

"I don't know how to take a break," She murmured to herself, scratching at the scope of jaw, just to the right of her chin.

"I was just about to say the same thing!" She could hear her mother speak up from the stairs.

As Kinomi glanced back, she caught sight of her parents looking around in awe at how quickly everything had managed to come together.

"You did all this?" Her father began quietly, taking his own gander at the set up of the room. They were just waking up, and half of the workload was already completed for them.

"Mhm!" Kinomi triumphantly poked out her chest, looking away almost bashfully, as if waiting for a sudden string of compliments to come in on behalf of her work. Her parents wandered the whole of the downstairs, taking a gander at the materials scattered out. Streamers and other mild decorations hanging from the corners of the room, the new centerpiece vases decorated with chunin exam sashes, new table cloths and things like that.

"Weren't you supposed to be resting on your days off?" Her mother spoke up, placing her hand against her own cheek in contemplation, "You always talk about how difficult training is."

A bland expression crossed Kinomi's face, "Well..." She began, dropping her hand against her hip, "...decorating a restaurant isn't exactly intense training. Besides, sitting still and doing nothing makes me so antsy when I know there's an exam going on!" Her rant was effectively silenced by her father's large, hefty hand settling atop her head and ruffling her hair affectionately.

"Then get some rest for the lunch rushes coming," he advised instead. "We can take a little decorating, kid."

"I dunno..." She trailed to herself, "You guys are getting old-"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the brunette found herself being effectively smacked with the ends of her own ponytail by her father, who was now making his way over to the box of decorations.

"Hey!" She retorted, tugging a few tiny strands from her lip. Just after, she made her way over as well, watching her father lift large boxes of napkins, and what looked like a few new kinds of boxes for the free desserts they would be gifting amidst some other things.

Her honey gaze shifted to look down into the depths of the box, spying what appeared to be folded fabric. She bent over and further into it, gripping the materials and pulling until she realized she had her hands on a full stack. "Hm?" She hummed to herself contemplatively, shifting through them a few times to find that they were new waitressing aprons. "Hey, why so many?" She inquired aloud, looking to her mother and father, either of which decided to answer.

"Oh," Her mother began, already getting to pinning the new banner to the host desk, "well we saw how unbearable the rushes could get from last year, so we had the idea of temporarily bringing in a few extra hands."

A sudden spark of light brightened in Kinomi's eye as if she had come up with a brilliant idea. With her lips curving up into an amused smile, she simply asked, "Have you found anyone yet?"

"Umm..." The woman hummed thoughtfully, turning for a second opinion from her husband who merely offered a half shake of his head, "Not yet, but I'm sure I know a few people that wouldn't mind volunteering for a little while."

"So do I..." Kinomi trailed to herself, a faint aura of mischief flickering around her person. Certainly Chako wouldn't mind helping, if anything she would probably volunteer herself if she knew. It was up in the air whether or not Ayumu would be able to volunteer, but Tama, oh she wouldn't have a choice. After what she had pulled just before, ditching her with that Naruto kid, she was definitely helping out. The three to four of them could definitely handle it, she was sure. "I've got the extra hands covered!"

"Oh yeah?" Her mother smiled pleasantly, patting Kinomi gently on the cheek, "You're awfully helpful. Thank you, dear."

A somewhat bashful streak of pink tinted across the caramel-haired girl's face, a subtle pout coming to her lips as she looked away, "Of course, that's what I'm here for, you know." It was nice to be given such kindness, but it was also embarrassing when they laid it on so thick that way.

With the work of preparation keeping them busy for the better part of the day, evening slowly began to ease in.

"Alright. We'll just be checking on the shipments. Will you be fine here on your own?" Kinomi's mother questioned hesitantly, knitting her brows in concern. They were only due to be a few streets over, so not even far if they had to hurry home, but her mother was just like that most of the time.

"I could go with you if you need-"

Her father, contrarily, cut her off blatantly, raising a thick brow whilst watching blandly, "Weren't you just complaining about being sore? Rest for once."

Kinomi effectively deflated, a look of exasperation taking root in her expression, "Fine." She huffed, sitting down in one of the booth seats by the window and setting her chin in her hands. "We don't have any customers right now or anything, so I'll be fine."

"Well there's food back there if you get hungry before dinner." her mom began, "And you know the bookstore is a little ways down, so if anything happens, you can ask Mrs. Chiharu-"

"Mom..." Kinomi drawled slightly, causing her mom to quickly shake her head in affirmation.

"I'm sorry, you're right! You're right!" Ushered by her husband, she eased out of the home, though he stopped to look back.

"We'll be back in a little. Won't take long." He gave a casual nod, which Kinomi returned, and within the moment, the two were heading out, leaving their daughter with a moment of peace at last. The restaurant was warm, but quiet, the lights on and looking much more festive thanks to the hefty decorating efforts.

"Whew." She leaned back, propping her feet up across the way beneath the table and up on the opposite booth seat. "I put on a brave face for Mom, but this soreness really isn't a joke." She eased backwards, stretching her spine out through the intensifying pangs until she reached the point of a satisfying cracking noise. It didn't help too much either that she was covered in scrapes and bruises from that mission, but they were kind of minor by comparison, only hurting if she accidentally applied pressure.

Raising her arms up carefully above her head, she bent them down to let her hands fall behind her head and fingers intertwine into her hair, as her eyes lulled shut.

_Thump Thump Thump_

Kinomi's eyes creaked reluctantly opening. Just when she was getting the chance to relax...

Sitting up and turning, she directed her gaze to the window, after all, it sounded like the thumping of a hand against glass. Unless her mom somehow left something behind when she got wrapped up in pampering her, she could only assume it was maybe one of her teammates or Chako.

Much to her surprise, the brunette's narrowed eyes fell onto the sleeve of an orange jumpsuit before catching sight of blue eyes staring invasively through the glass.

"Naruto?" She inquired in confusion, slowly easing herself up from her spot and walking to the front door. She pressed the door open, peeking out, "What are you doing here?"

"I was coming from the first part of the exam," He began, hurrying to the door with a look of eagerness on his face, "and since I remembered you mentioning that you're selling things dirt cheap I came here! AND REALLY LUCKY TOO, HUH?" He grinned a wide, fox-like grin as if he had just discovered himself as the most clever person to exist, "There aren't any people here either!"

"Um..." Kinomi raised her finger, tapping awkwardly against her cheek for a moment, "No one here, well... That's probably because..." She flicked her fingertip then to point towards the sign in the window reading 'CLOSED'.

"Gah!" He drove his fingers into his spiky blond hair, "How did I miss that!? Something's different about it, that's probably it!"

"It's a new style for our chunin exams promotions," She offered in a somewhat quiet murmur, receiving a loud reply of "YEAH! THAT'S GOTTA BE IT!"

He folded his arms, looking back over his shoulder towards the ramen bar he was seen frequenting, "I guess I could just go to Ichiraku Ramen instead if you guys aren't open right n-"

"Well!" Kinomi abruptly spoke up, finding it quite impossible in her genetic make-up to allow a possible customer to be directed elsewhere, "I've got food in here! Since you stopped by while we're closed, it's not 'food of your choice', but I guess I can offer it to you for free, and you can take it as a sample of what we've got." It was more so the food her mother had left behind for her to eat, but this was promotional work! It was beyond her own hunger! She could just wait for dinner.

"For free!?" Those shimmers gleamed their way back into his eyes, "How can I turn that down!?"

_'I know I offered,' _Kinomi thought to herself, opening the door enough to allow him inside, _'but why do I feel like I was scammed somehow?' _

The orange clad genin slid into the booth where Kinomi was seated prior too, practically bouncing in his seat as he awaited this mystery dish he would be given for dinner. It was so enthusiastic and for something so small, that Kinomi couldn't help but feel her brows knit together, an oddly amused smile twisting on her lips. _'So weird.' _She thought on her way back to the kitchen.

"Here," Kinomi came back, having quickly cooked the pre-prepared dish her mother had left for her. She set down the small platter, then set down a small bowl of dipping sauce. "Gyoza," she clarified to be sure, and following the pouring of a generous cup of tea, she set down the pot and took her seat. "I'm not exactly as good at cooking as my mom, or my dad for that matter." She set her chin in her hand, "My dad does most of the cooking for the restaurant, and that guy's _amazin-_"

"ThisIsGreat!"

Kinomi closed her mouth, staring across the way at the male who was already cramming about two or three of them into his mouth. Instantly, she appeared put off, "How would you know?! It doesn't even look like you're tasting it!"

"I-" He couldn't even complete his sentiment, having to choke down the food that was in his mouth. He tipped his head back as if giving his food an extra boost to be swallowed properly. "Gah..." He breathed, patting his chest firmly, then lifting the cup to take a mouthful of tea to help wash it down.

An exasperated fold developed beneath Kinomi's eye, a dry look on her face, _'That's not how you're supposed to enjoy your tea either...' _

"Ahh..." He breathed contently, grabbing up his chopsticks with the intent of going another round. "I taste it just fine! If it wasn't good, I wouldn't be eating it so fast!" She had her reasons to doubt that, but she wouldn't say.

"Did the chunin exams work up that much of an appetite?"

At the posed question, the blond locked up slightly, his eyes bugging as if he had just remembered how much he had to say on the matter. "It didn't wear me out. It was a piece of cake, believe it," He casually added, as if trying to add some sort of bravado to it, "But that was just the first part."

"You didn't have any trouble at all?" Kinomi's brow now began to raise and the faint edges of a smirk quirked onto her lips in amusement, "Not even a little?"

"Well the written exam was way easy," He spoke, popping another whole dumpling in his mouth without bothering to bite it in the slightest. "The questions were really hard, but I found a way through it, definitely. The _next_ exam is going to be crazy!" He suddenly puffed up, "That proctor's lost her mind! She's a complete wack-job!"

"What's so crazy about her?" Kinomi inquired, tipping her head curiously. By now, she was fully enjoying the story-telling - he was so spirited about it, it was kind of hard not to be immersed.

"Well! She crashed in through a window, for one! Two! She's trying to send us out into this place where we might die! I don't know the whole of it, but she's going to be explaining it to us tomorrow. Giant spiders and junk, in a big forest and we're going to have to go in there!"

"Ooh," Kinomi casually mused, looking thoughtful in the face of the description, "Sounds like my last mission." Of course she was just fibbing, but the face that he made and the "HUH" that came spilling out was too entertaining to pass up. Immediately the brunette started to laugh as he got so riled up - this reaction was like that of some child. Really, the whole conversation pointed to that end - this Naruto kid was just that, an overgrown kid.

"I'm joking," She waved off, "we only take missions like that when sensei has hopes of one of us getting replaced..."

"What?!"

"Joking!" She added again, muffling her chuckles.

"Hey," Naruto spoke up, breaking her out of her laughter momentarily, "Why aren't you in the chunin exams?" He folded his arms, though still chewing, "Aren't you way older than me?"

A wave of bemused tire crashed down onto the brunette, teeth subconsciously baring and clenching, "I'm only a year older than you, damn it..." She murmured to herself. She huffed out a sigh, leaning back into her seat.

"Wha-real-"

"YES, REALLY!" She near-instantaneously interrupted, an anger tick largely displayed on her head. After another sigh, this time to calm her nerves, she spoke up again. "We had a mission before the exams. It should have been pretty routine, but one of our teammates caught an adrenaline rush and strayed from command. That's the best way to explain it..." She knit her brows together thoughtfully, "Not exactly sure why she did, but I'm not even sure she knows. She's impulsive... Either way, she got injured - nothing too major, but nothing we could participate with either."

Naruto, near-whole gyoza hanging from his lip, watched and listened intently. He should have felt sympathetic, and truth-be-told, he kind of did, after all, he couldn't count the number of times on one hand that he felt the need to go rushing back in somewhere after being told not to. Just as interesting, however, was the way the question changed her demeanor.

She had gone from joking and relaxed in demeanor to thinking deeply, coming off much more serious, and influencing the entirety of the surrounding mood into one of somewhat tension.

"But the bottom line is, now that we can't, we've got to cheer on our fellow leaf ninja from the sidelines." And suddenly it was light again...

"Ah!" Suddenly the shift of the conversation to other leaf ninja left him scrambling as if he suddenly remembered something, "That's right!" He hit his hand firmly against the table, "I had no idea! I mean I knew there were other ninja in the village, but there were so many weirdos!"

"Are you really one to be saying that..?" She spoke quietly, seeming to accidentally let it be loud enough to hear.

Luckily, he seemed not to pay it much mind as he flew back into his full scale ranting, "Some jerk with no eyebrows! - well, he was from the sand village, but there was also some freak with _huge_ eyebrows! I'm telling you! They looked like they were about to crawl off his face any second! And those _bug_ eyes!"

Kinomi listened, at first making no expression other than a mild stare that was indicative of her attentiveness, but as the pieces connected in her mind, her eyes grew wide and white, "THAT'S LEE!"

"HUH!? You _know_ him!?"

Defying the shaking of her shoulders, the brunette huffed out tapered breaths, "We were in the academy together! I promise he's a s-stand up guy!"

Naruto immediately shock back, "You're lying! You're laughing about it!"

The light conversation went on for only a bit longer until the blond had to get ready to start his trek home. After all, waking up early in the morning for the next part of the exam was imperative- there would likely be no tolerance for showing up late.

"Oh, wait, hey!" Kinomi raised her hand, beckoning Naruto's attention, "I never caught your name!" She forgot that part. She knew his name from rumors, but it wouldn't have made for a good impression to say that.

He turned back, taken by mild surprise. _'Somebody wants to know my name, huh?' _ A goofy grin took to his face, followed by the huffed 'hehe' of completely uncool giddiness. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki, and next time you see me, I'll be a chunin! Believe it!" That made him sound cool, right? After all, Konohamaru had posed that she had some sort of crush on him, so showing that kind of confidence probably made her swoon on the inside!

"What a kid," Kinomi contrarily murmured as he left out. "He's confident though, I guess... I hope that's a good thing." Her eyes lowered to the plate as she began to clean his place, her honey eyes widening ever-so-slightly.

There wasn't a crumb left on the plate.

In fact, the plate looked like it had just been freshly cleaned. Her eyes sparkled slightly. Another shining example of how- Her admiration fell flat abruptly as she took notice of the near-full bowl of dipping sauce, "What a waste!" And hold on... "That brat!" She suddenly piped up, "He never even bothered to ask my name!"

**A/N: This is a pretty long chapter, wow. I guess I really can't help myself when it comes to conversations and dialogue interactions, because before they started talking, I was at 2550 -give or take a few tens. **

**I hope you guys enjoyed! **

**Also - I'm going to be doing oneshots for the holiday/winter season, and I put up a poll to decide which ships I should prioritize for! It'll probably be up all the way to New Years with more options added for every new ship story I publish~! So feel free to vote there!**

**Thank you for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5: That Dark Horse

**A/N: This isn't exactly a necessary chapter to read. It is an in-between with some nice and fun moments and a couple of outside-story cameos, but only the last bit of the chapter is technically plot progression! Just a heads up!**

* * *

"Everyoooone!" Ayumu raised her hand high, waving out into the crowds of passerbys that wandered the streets. "Come enjoy a delicious meal! Shinobi eat at a discounted rate!" The golden haired seemed not to be letting her injured leg stop her. Every now and then between little energized leaps and sudden switches in her strides, one could see her knee bow slightly under the pressure, but she came so enthusiastically when Kinomi called her, that she seemed not to be concerned about it.

"Don't forget the dessert~," Kinomi playfully added whilst hiking up a shallow-cut box. From outside, one could see the many bags inside, each one labeled for a different variety of tea leaf -though it was intercepted and carried the rest of the way by her father before she had the chance to walk it inside.

"Oh!" Ayumu turned to momentarily look behind her at the interjection, "And a free dessert as well for our shinobi customers!"

Chako raised her hand to her lips, muffling an amused chuckle whilst shifting to face Kinomi. "This is really kind of you to run these promotions, but how are you able to afford just giving things away like this?"

"Hm?" The brunette took her seat on the edge of a shipping crate, settling her hands down against her thighs in rest. "Well the restaurant is relatively small, but it usually stays pretty busy. Since most of our constant business comes from civilians , and our materials are discounted by our suppliers, like you and your family, we don't shell out much either. So we're still bringing in more than we're offering out."

Ayumu leaned back, bending even further behind her to deliver Kinomi a less than engaged expression, "Theeen... do we get paid in food and dessert for this? I'm a shinobi too, you know... and since it's not breaking your bank or anything..."

"You said you'd volunteer!" Kinomi shot back, causing a shifty, yet resigned expression to come across the blonde's face.

"I didn't." Tama turned and glanced over, hand on her hip whilst her eyes bemusedly met Kinomi's. The latter, however, seemed to brush her off with a dismissive wave of her hand and a steeply upturned smile on her face, "Yours is a repaid debt for leaving me. Every hour you work helps to pay off a second of my traumatic mortification."

"Uhuh." Tama blandly remarked. "Well please, Oh, Taskmaster, tell me what I can do to ease your overdramatic woes."

"Oh!" Kinomi looked away, matching the claim of theatrics Tama stapled to her by burying the lower half of her face into the back of her hand, smothering a wavering smirk as she attempted to cause a melancholic quiver to weak her voice. "Since you asked, I think I could be healed by more of a customer flow, so if you could just draw some more in, I would be ever-so-grateful."

The dark haired girl stared onward, blinking quickly and remaining silent for a delayed period, "...Isn't that what I'm doing right now?"

"More!" Kinomi falsified her meager wail, "Like... l-like..." Abruptly all semblance of pitiful whining disappeared, a touch more mischief fueling the brunette's honey-eyed side glance, "show a little leg, give a little show."

"H-hah!?" Chako's mouth fell agape immediately. "Isn't that request a little questionable?"

Ayumu made an instant 180, brown eyes wide and watching, not wanting to miss this show if it were to bear fruit, "She won't do it! There's no way!"

Whether lucky for them or just plain unfortunate for her, Tama actually felt the slightest bit playful. Even with her eyes appearing decidedly dead inside from just how dry her expression was, and her body having little to no fluid movement, she slid her leg half a centimeter out from her body, quirking out the hip that her hand rested upon.

"Oh wow."

The lot turned, catching the one that had uttered the sentiment. Tenten, who had clearly been caught off guard, accompanied by Neji and another...

"I didn't think this restaurant was so scandalous," Tenten uttered through a breathily restrained laugh. Neji, on the other hand, had a much more grim expression than usual, a sense of dread looming over him as his base look of apathy.

"Tch..." Tama's eyes darted away from them, beads of sweat accumulating upon her cheek from pressure, and a deep red color over her face. The one time she made the choice to play along with their ridiculous games and she ended up having such terrible timing. She honestly should have seen it coming. It also made it that much more aggravating that the lot of them seemed to be breaking their backs with howls of laughter.

"Hey, guys! Hehe..." Kinomi attempted to clear up those lingering chuckles as she bounded up from her perch and over to the group of three. "Kaho? Hanging with you two?" She addressed the rose-pink haired girl standing between Neji and Tenten, "What's the occasion?"

The redheaded kunoichi, Kaho, spoke up to clarify, "I'm only tagging along for lunch, and right after, we plan to see Rock Lee in the hospital."

"Oh, that's right," Chako added from the spark to her recollection, "I heard what happened with the preliminaries. Has he been doing okay?"

"Eh..." Tenten's gaze found itself wandering elsewhere, the reluctance in her face telling the tale without the need of words, but still she tried to supplement with something cushioning. "Things are... well he's awake. So that's a good sign."

"Don't sugarcoat it," Kaho spoke up. She turned to face the girls, and despite her base expression appearing soft and welcoming, her light, spring green eyes were cold and unsympathetic. "He played things carelessly in the preliminaries, and put a lot of strain on his body, not to mention injury. If he will be up and about again, it probably won't be for a long time."

The harshly cold way in which she addressed the topic practically left the girls with a brisk chill. The area went quiet for a time, either for an inability to respond or for the delay of trying to find the right words.

_'Now I see why she hangs out with Neji,' _Kinomi internally huffed. In a quick attempt to lift the mood, however, she added, "Oh, come on. If anyone's in for a hard time it's the hospital staff." She offered a light laugh to try pumping life into the conversation. "If Lee gets up and moving, being in a confined room will drive him crazy."

"Yes, that's right!" Chako pitched in, "he has more energy than anyone I've ever met. I believe he'll be alright."

Settling her loosely enclosed fist against her cheek, Tenten laughed quietly to herself, "If I have any say in it, I'd like to have him overworking himself as little as possible."

Behind them, as they spoke, they all turned, noticing that the large 'Open' sign was finally being placed in the window. It wasn't there at first, but there also wasn't a closed sign - just a way of allowing people to come in and dine without ushering in a whole lunch rush too soon.

"Whelp, that's our cue." Kinomi stretched out with her arms overheard, gripping her elbow with her opposite hand and bending backwards slightly. "Let's get you guys a table."

The interior had been completed a couple of days ago, the new orange, green, and white standing out in a subtle support of Konoha in the chunin exams. The green, due to represent Konoha specifically, while the orange more loosely paid homage to the land of fire. The white, was the main color, something plain and easy on the eyes to subtly balance the more eye-catching detail colors.

More than somewhat patriotic, it still carried the homey feeling that came from the small, one-floor restaurant area.

"This is the first time in ages, I've been here before closing hours!" Tenten chirped. She clapped her hands together, the gesture of preparation along with the smell of the food whetting her appetite.

"We haven't had time to frequent restaurants since the academy," Kaho agreed. She took up her cup of tea, inhaling the scent before sighing contently. "I don't know if I'm really taken in by the scents, or if I'm just happy to finally have time to relax. What about you, Neji?" As she turned her head, her gaze settled upon the stoic Hyuga, who had already taken to enjoying the tea. "Oh."

"Dining at an actual establishment after the time spent in the forest is bound to be ideal." He answered briefly and simply.

_'I know he didn't say it directly,' _Kinomi began mentally, _'but I'm going to go ahead and take that as a compliment.' _It bluntly came off as easily as 'I would rather eat in a place with four walls than snacking on rations in the middle of the woods', but in Neji-language, it was one of the highest honors one could receive.

It didn't take long before the people began to pour in, some familiar, some not, some from the local area, some from far off, judging by their headbands.

"Welcome!" Ayumu chimed, fastening her hands blissfully behind her back. Although they alternated greeting guests with whoever was nearest the door, there was no doubt that Ayumu was one of the best ones for it. Not only was she naturally very kind and social, but her perpetual happiness radiated as a sort of charisma.

"Thank you," The entering girl responded. She seemed excited to be there, even going as far as to bow to her upon thanking her.

"Eh?" Ayumu paused this time, watching the girl and boy walk past her and up to Kinomi's mother at the host desk. Catching this apparent interest or confusion, Kinomi made her way across the room, looking to Ayumu whilst offering her a gentle nudge with her shoulder, "Everything okay? What's wrong?"

"That boy..." Ayumu trailed. She looked to the girl at his side, a short, silver-haired girl that was adorned in all sorts of silky, luxurious garments. It was easy to see that they were expensive just by looking at them, not to mention the very bright and intricate crest on the back and sleeve. One would think it would be she Ayumu was entranced by, not the rather ordinarily dressed boy in dark blue, with that simplistic red and quite crest on his back.

"What about him?" Kinomi inquired, tipping her head to try to understand or maybe see from a different perspective that would help her see something differently.

"He's..." Ayumu's brown eyes suddenly sparkled as if catching a sudden ray of light out of literally nowhere, thick pink circles of color on her cheek, and an odd sway in her body, "...really really cute!" Just as abruptly as she finished her sentence, Ayumu found herself smacked promptly with a flick of her own hair. "What was that for!?"

"He looks like he's on a date!" Kinomi scolded, "That's just disrespectful!"

"Ahh? Maybe they're just friends!" The golden-haired girl quickly tried to supplement, but judging by the way Kinomi briskly walked away, there was no supplementing there.

"Are you ready to order?" The brunette asked, having now strode to a different table across the room. She recognized the three at the table as leaf shinobi, thanks to their headband, but she hadn't exactly seen any of them before. They must have been a part of the new class too.

"Mhm!" The dark haired girl replied, "I'm ordering for the table."

Kinomi's brows knit together, feeling slightly intimidated. It could have been by comparison -considering the others sitting at the table included a seemingly shy, quiet pale-blonde girl, and a warm-vibed light blue haired boy too absorbed in writing things down-, but this girl was stunning. Finding she nearly forgot to grab her notepad, she scrambled for it quickly and gripped her pen, "Ah, right! Please, go right head."

"Welcome..." Admittedly lacking the normal amount of energy that someone like Ayumu would carry, Tama greeted the new customers.

Two males, one with dark hair and sharp, piercing blue eyes with a prominent ring of red around the pupil, and another with gauze tape wrapped around his mouth. Now how was he supposed to eat or drink anything like that?

The first male, hands planted in his pockets, responded with a subtle, "Hey, thanks," but the way his eyes wandered over to Tama implied slight intrigue.

"Hn," Tama briskly breathed out, shifting her eyes to look elsewhere. _'Things are getting relatively chaotic already. The only things keeping everything rotating smoothly are fast eaters, people coming in to grab something and go, or passerbys seeing how packed the place is and seemingly opting to come back later.' _

"Whew..." Chako loosed a subtle exhale, taking a quick once around the place with her eyes. "Oh!" Her deep, rich green eyes took note of one table that, from the looks of it, seemed to be filled with sand ninja. With a sense of strange comfort, if not familiarity, she bounded over, passing by Kinomi, who had just passed her ticket back to her father.

The place was smelling amazing. Even at a pace that the four of them found a little trouble with as waitresses, her father seemed to be sending out meals in good time. _'What a pro.' _

Kinomi finally had the opportunity for a brief breather, but looking straight ahead, eyes lit with recognition. "Chie," She addressed, approaching to welcome them, "and Shikamaru too. Are you guys on some kind of date?"

"Ehhh?!" Chie huffed, briskly folding her arms, "Like I'd ever."

"Standing right here, thanks, " Shikamaru piped up unenthusiastically, not really sore or anything, but just to let her know 'he was offended'.

"You wouldn't either, you just want to complain about something," Chie huffed. Quickly waving her hands however, she attempted to move right along, "Unfortunately we aren't staying for lunch. We came to pick some food up and head over to Choji."

Kinomi tipped her head, confusion clearly registering on her face, "Why didn't you bring him with you?"

A hefty sigh escaped Shikamaru's lips, "He's hospitalized."

"Oh my gosh," Kinomi gasped quietly, "So many people wound up that way. Were the chunin exams really that intense?"

"Hah?" Chie shook her head quickly upon realization, "Oh, no! Not at all! It's kind of like a really bad case of indigestion. He ate too much too fast."

"Oh..." Kinomi's smile faltered slightly, a sweatdropping in response, "That's... a relief..?" She rubbed the back of her neck to clear the awkwardness, until something came to the front of her head, "Ah! That's right! How did Naruto do?"

"Huh?" Shikamaru huffed questioningly, "You follow him an awful lot, don't you?"

"Wha!?" Kinomi stepped back, freezing from the sudden accusation upon her. Now what was that even supposed to mean? She was just curious, "Well, it's just that-"

"Maybe it's some sort of romantic interest?" Chie egged on as well, clearly out for revenge.

"Hey! You two are awful!" The brunette huffed, "Really two pieces of work! Practically made for each other, I swear."

In the midst of Chie's laughing and chuckling to herself, Shikamaru reached out, mild amusement able to be seen through his particularly bland exterior. "Hey, if you wanna know so bad, he actually got through. I'll admit, he shocked me."

"Really?" Kinomi turned, thinking on the comment as the two bypassed her to the host counter. _'He really did manage to get through..?' _Her mind trailed on the subject as she lifted the food from the counter from the kitchen station to lift the dishes, _'I guess he wasn't all talk after all then, was he? I'm proud of him.' _

Maybe she would do something special for him or something...

**A/N: Hey! Thanks for reading! As I said, this is more of an in-between chapter. Aside from the last little bit, it doesn't hold any specific progression pieces, it was just a fun piece to write, and I had an excuse to stuff in a bunch of other OC cameos that are a part of this 'altogether continuity' Disney-style. **

**I hope you enjoyed it! **

**Also, I'd like to take a moment to address the reviews I've gotten! I want you guys to know that I read them all, I've seen them all, and I appreciate you guys leaving a little feedback and encouragement! It's always deeply appreciated!**

**So: Thank you, **elizabethmcnamara262** ! I work really hard to try to match the theme of whatever I'm writing for and flesh my OCs out in it, so I'm exceeeeeedingly happy that you think they're believable! That's really the highest form of compliment to me! (And I'm not talking about a Neji compliment! The REAL DEAL!). **

**Thank you, **FANGIRLWHODIES **! And you're welcome for the update! :'D Also, please don't die, thanks. **

**Thank you, **YaoiLovinKitsune**! Sweatdrop scenes are always awkward! That's the point! I'm just kidding - but it really is super hard to write anime-esque moments into a story that doesn't have the visuals to make it more normal in exaggeration. LOL You're completely right! **

**Thank you, **0XxShinigamixX**! I'll do my best to keep up the good work, but your encouragement is really a huge help to me! **

**And finally, Thank you, **jacsonusumaki18 **! We won't be time-skipping directly to the Naruto x Neji fight, since there is prep time in between the preliminaries and the main event, and even though a lot of that time was spent training, I think I can squeeze out a tiiiiiiny amount of time to accomplish something I want done for the next chapter. uwu Woops? is that a spoiler..? **

**I may not always be able to call you guys out for individual and personal thank yous, but please know that I am always reading reviews that are left and paying attention to you guys! I'll try to continue asking any questions you guys may have. Thank you so so much!**

**Also! If you want a say in the 'holiday/winter oneshots' I'll be posting, please check out the poll I have up! It'll be there for a while, and constantly changing as new stories are posted. **

**Thank you again! I love you guys!**


	6. Chapter 6: That Human

"Aha~! I knew I'd find you here."

"Huh?" Naruto paused mid-stride, his hands fastened behind the back of his head in his typical fashion, but a curious look in his eyes. It was that girl - he hadn't really remembered her name... come to think of it, had he even asked her name? "Uhhh..." he drawled quietly, fumbling through his memory to try avoiding any trouble with awkward missteps, "you."

The brunette's brow twitched with irritation, eyes shutting tightly in one of many attempts at hiding her displeasure. "Kinomi," she huffed simply, near-grumbling in response. _'Oh come on... 'you'? Were you even trying to be convincing..?' _

"Yeah! Right!" He slammed his hand into his opposite palm, "Kinomi! I knew that!"

An exasperated breath of air slid from her lips as she continued to mumble, "I'm not sure how, since you never got my name..."

Silence wafted around the area for a moment, Naruto not speaking up in response, and Kinomi not following up on her previous statement. Before the conversation had a chance to slide down the scold-and-response rabbit hole, Naruto derailed it from the impending train wreck. "So what are you looking for me for?"

"Oh, right!" Settling one hand on her hip and lifting the other one, she subtly shook around the carefully covered, picnic-style food basket she held to show it off. "If you aren't too busy, I'd like to steal a little of your time."

"Huh?!" The response left his lips before he even had the chance to really think about it. He knew what she said, but did he know what she meant? He was getting carried away; his mind was sending itself adrift in unsteady circles! _'Seriously!? A date? I just learned her name!' _His ears burned with flattery, despite the dumbstruck look on his face. _'Konohamaru was right - she's practically in love with me! But...' _

He took a moment as dictated by his thoughts running amuck, his light blue eyes took a hesitant, sneaky peek at her to complete his moment of appraisal. _'She's a year older than me, right..? Well she's got a pretty cute face, and if the other night's any proof, she can cook too!' _

"Um..." Kinomi set her hand on her hip, lowering the basket in her hand and staring at the dazed Naruto with a confused and also slightly concerned look, "Naruto..?"

_'I can't..!' _He quickly shook his head in response, _'Just think of what Sakura would say!' _He fumbled for a response, though whilst combing his fingers roughly through the hair at the back of his head, he finally sputtered, "I-I can't..."

"Aw, really?" The brunette quirked her hip to the side, lips twitching up into a thoughtful pout. It made sense - things were so busy for the exam participants, what with final rounds being announced... "Well-"

"I have a girlfriend!" He continued on - however false it may have been, the alternative would have send the conversation into a potentially embarrassing run-around. Besides, what were the chances that she knew who he was talking about. "It's pretty serious! Hehe."

"...Eh..?" Kinomi's lost caramel eyes stared blankly ahead, an awkward smile stuck on her face, "g...girlfriend..? but..." _'But what does that have to do with anything..?' _

"Yeah," He quickly spoke up again, swiftly driving it home before he felt tempted to change his mind, "so I'm gonna have to turn down that date." He held firm and stayed strong, unfortunately paying no nevermind to the way she stared bemusedly at him. He'd never been so openly approached by a girl that held him in good graces before, let alone for something like a date. It was a little overwhelming in the moment, even.

After a little silence, Kinomi dryly spoke up again, "It's not a date." She spoke bluntly and blandly, an exasperated sigh escaping her next, "I heard that you'd made it to the exam finals, so I just made you a little something to celebrate." She kept her expression, looking down on the slightly shorter blond genin as he quickly changed his tune.

"Huh- well wait, why didn't you say so!?" He hadn't had a proper celebration for his _numerous_ achievements since Iruka treated him!

"I dunno if I even want to share it with you after that..." Her mock contemplation dragged on, her head turning away whilst her knuckle brushed thoughtfully beneath her lip, "...maybe I'll see if that Sasuke boy wants it instead... he passed to the finals too, didn't he..?"

"What!?" He bristled immediately at the name, just as she thought he would. She didn't know his squad, and not even the fact that those two in particular had any sort of rivalry, but as far as she knew, every genin male she saw had some sort of complex with the guy, why would Naruto be any different? "Sasuke..!? No way! He got beaten up so bad, you would've thought _he_ was the one that lost!"

"Hm?" Kinomi took interest in the little tidbit, but only enough to make her next words seem playfully genuine, "well, I guess when you put it that way, you _might_ deserve it..." An amused smile curved up the corners of her lips, a mischievous little chuckle then escaping through it. "Come on, let's find a spot~."

Once veering away from the village's built up homes and populated streets, the two found a rather easy time navigating through the thickets of the forest's edge.

"So then Shikamaru told me you'd managed to handle yourself pretty well." Kinomi peered back slightly after pushing the branches affront her aside, trying to see how he was doing at keeping up. After seeing he was making his way, she stepped to the side, holding the leafy stem back to give him a clear path into the forest clearing.

"You know Shikamaru?" Naruto responded in inquiry. It would be too suspicious to ask what he told her, after all, Naruto was certain it would be embarrassing to let it slip about exactly 'how' he had beaten Kiba.

"Not exactly..." The brunette, upon seeing the younger genin pass her by, moved ahead to catch up, setting the basket down into the grass and easing down into a comfy spot to sit criss-cross. "Someone I know is pretty good friends with him, and since they've been catching up more lately, I've seen a lot more of him. Before that, though, I only knew him as a customer."

She began unloading the contents of the basket: a few plum-filled riceballs, that gyoza he seemed so fond of, and a couple of sweets set aside. Although it was a well-known staple of their little place, it would have been a bit inconvenient to try bringing a full tea set along.

"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed, clapping his hands together and rubbing his palms in excited preparation, "This looks great!" It was a pretty spread for a picnic, and he could tell some of it was still warm, because the bits of steam that escaped the sealed containers were sending out a crazy aroma. He licked his lips, a goofy chuckle slipping out from time to time.

"But of course! When eating with us, you should expect nothing less~!" She beamed pridefully and poked out her chest, "Dig in!"

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Within a second of getting the 'OK', he already set about stowing his face with a little of everything, causing Kinomi's smile to falter awkwardly as he indiscriminately stowed away the sweets with the meal as well. It was a good thing she never exactly intended to eat any of the things that she had packed. It was more so just a gift for his success.

"Slow down! This food is meant to be savored!" She scolded, crossing her arms, "you act like you haven't seen food before!"

He seemed not immediately bothered by her huffing, more so just made aware that she had done so. One of them dumpling ends stuck out from between his lips as his chewing momentarily halted, and he watched her. As he was sure it had come to an end, he mumbled his defense through his stuffed cheeks, "I ha-bnt ea-en ye to-heh."

"..." The brunette returned his stare, attempting to blink away her confusion but to no avail. She couldn't even begin to understand that mass of incoherence, "I'm sorry, what?"

He ungracefully slurped the edge into his mouth, gulping loudly before catching his breath and clarifying, "I haven't eaten today yet! I'm starving!" Not to mention the food was really hitting the spot for him at the moment. Slowing down wasn't really on his mind.

Kinomi shut her eyes, her cheek poking out from the amassed air before blowing out in a huffed pocket. Her hand flicked, waving him on to do what he pleased, though with one opening eye, she watched his reaction as she inquired further, "Either way, I'm sure you know how to handle food. Haven't you already been out to celebrate?"

"Hm?" He cleared his mouth with another big swallow, the dishes seeming to appear quickly barren each time. The young genin carelessly wiped his mouth with his own sleeve, clearing off all the rice grains persistently sticking around his mouth, "Well yeah I've done it before! But it wasn't for this - that was back when I graduated from the academy. Oh! And Iruka-sensei cooked me up some ramen after my last big mission!"

Her caramel hues seemed thoughtfully fixated up whilst she pondered that information. "That little? Really?" She couldn't honestly believe it, "Your parents didn't take you out, or make a special dinner to celebrate with you or anything?"

"..."

"Hm?" Her head tilted ever so slightly to the side. She took notice of the way he slowed his eating - not that there was too much left to eat to begin with-, and immediately finding she may have misspoken, she waved her hands dismissively affront her, "Hey now, it's fine if they don't! Not every parent's got time to, especially not if they're ninja and all."

"I..." Less reluctant and more contemplative, he let his word drag, fragmented. His uncertain expression began to transition into an easygoing one, playing off the falter as comedy, "I don't have 'em! No parents here! Nobody to worry about telling me what to do or anything like that! Hehe!"

The joking tone covered flawless with practice; it was if he had done this a million times, but to Kinomi it was clear. This kind of behavior stood out, especially to one that had seen it.

_'It's not quite the same.' _She thought to herself, recalling the look she could seen in Tama's eyes from time to time. _'Tama had her grandmother, and her brother. She was never completely alone.' _This boy, however, she hadn't seen the same as that. She never saw him going on to take on any familial responsibilities for anyone younger than him, -save for tagging around with some of the local kids-, and as far as she had seen, the only adult figures he had tagging around were his sensei, and his mention of Iruka.

_'Still... that look is unmistakable.' _Her demeanor changed, her gift of charisma sliding in to guide her from her slight social fall, "Seriously?" She folded her arms and playfully grinned, "You can share mine then. They're so clingy it drives me insane, so maybe if they have someone else to worry about, they'll lay off!"

"Hah?" The blond male quickly shot his glance up, surprise on his face from the sudden remark, "You're joking, right?!"

"Nope! Consider it a little payback for forgetting my name~!"

"But you didn't even give it to m-"

"As I was saying!" She quickly interrupted to follow through, "You may get the perks of occasional free food, and a place to crash or shower for the night, but you've also got to worry about them smothering you, y'know." She stood up, placing her hands on her hips as she continued to push her bout of teasing, "Not to mention the fact that they aren't ninja or anything, so they can't teach you any cool tricks, or jutsu, or anything."

"You can't just _give_ me your parents!" He bolted up, following suit, eyes growing wide and white as he pointed an accusing finger, "Are you crazy or something!?"

In response to the sudden outburst, the brunette raised her finger to her lip thoughtfully, though settled for passing him an impish wink, "I didn't say give, I said share~. That means you're obligated to _all _our family things too. That means sometimes I'll have them focus on you to take a break for a while! I'll fill you in on that when I gotta~."

_'I can't follow any of this! What's gotten into her or... no... what's wrong with her?!' _His outer countenance shattered, jaw agape and swamped in a bewildered manner, "This was all some... trick!?"

"Huh?" Kinomi shifted to him fully, arms folded at the small of her back as she learned forward and _innocently_ tipped her head, "No, not at all. It was just a spur of the moment thing, you know? I like to be spontaneous." She stood back to her full height. "That being said, it's totally unfair I have to suffer this way, while you get all the freedom you want, I say."

"I don't get it!" He ruffled his hands into his hair out of frustration, "What's wrong with you? What do you mean by 'obligated to family things' or whatever that was!"

"Simple!" She flicked her hand nonchalantly, "It means you have to be a part of the stuff we do. First and foremost, that means we'll be watching for your match in the finals!" A more blissful smile came across her face this time, holding less mischief and more sincerity, "You know. Family stuff."

For a reason he couldn't quite understand, that look solidified something at that moment. While Naruto didn't previously understand this sudden springing, the pieces seemed to somewhat connect in that moment; her look was familiar, like the look he had seen from Iruka times before. This family thing that she suddenly brought on... _'What is... Is she trying to make me feel better..?' _He was slow to the uptake to these things, so there was no guarantee he was correct, _'Or... she might be trying to force me into her family, to try stealing me away from Sakura!' _Even he had to admit that last one was starting to sound outlandish... all things considered.

"Are you sure you won't start getting jealous?" He suddenly inquired.

"Hm..?" Taken aback by the sudden and peculiar question, her brows knit, "Jealous? What for?"

"You're a year older than me!" The way he boasted his beginning portion left Kinomi looking blandly, but he disregarded it, haughtily riding right into his next boasting words, "It'll be really embarrassing when I become chunin before you! Your parents will like me way better after that, believe it!"

The return of his quirky pride sent an amused look coming into play on her face, though the hints of competition and even a twinge of lighthearted agitation came to light behind it, "Yeah, right! I'd like to see you try being some big accomplished ninja in that bright orange thing! The way I see it, you've already failed stealth 101!" It may have irked her a little, by her slightly competitive nature, but she had to admit, she was happy to see he was all fired up. The little down moment he had before had managed to catch her off guard - within all those rumors, it's as if she had forgotten the boy was human, and such a fragile one at that.

"What!?" The apparent 'fragile' boy bellowed through ruffled feathers.

The bickering went onward, and no doubt if the training grounds in that area were actually in use, they probably would have been quite the annoyance. Regardless, as far as Kinomi was concerned, the outing was an overwhelming success, and given the progression from that little prod on her part, she had another she was going to be specifically looking out for.

As the day came upon them, stadium crowded with all sorts of foreign nobility come to spectate, the ninja that were participating, and other curious members of the crowd, Kinomi took her seat between Tama and another friend of hers, Chie.

The brunette leaned back, crossing one leg over the other, and likewise folding her arms as she watched the field expectantly and appraisingly.

"Going up against Neji in the first go around?" Tama questioned, mainly to herself, "It sounds like an unlucky draw to me."

"Don't count him out so early," Chie interjected, "apparently everyone underestimating him lately has been a pretty crazy calling card of his when the odds are stacked."

"Hmmm..." Kinomi hummed, musing quietly with the commentary of her friends in her mind. If he could talk so high and mighty about being chunin, he should have been able to handle any challenge - Hyuga or not, rookie or not.

"Alright, Naruto Uzumaki. Let's see what you're capable of then."

**A/N: I'm back from a crazy Christmas Holiday! Now I can start posting the holiday fics! I sure hope you all enjoyed your Christmas season as much as I did~. **

**Thank you for all the amazing support on this story, and I hope to be able to push out chapters in a more timely manner again within the next couple of weeks. **

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and thank you so much for reading~! **


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